MONITORS
72 OCTOBER2020|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE392
ASFARASoffice monitorsgo,this isn’tas dirt
cheap as the AOC24B2XH, and is nowhere
near as high-specced as itsultrawide Philips
stablemate, the Brilliance439P9H. In fact its
24in size and Full HD resolution are very
much middle-of-theroadspecs.
At thesame time,the 243B9has afew
tricks to ensurethat, at the very least, it
avoidsthe humdrum fate of beingjust
another display.
PLAYINGTOTYPE
Firstand foremost, there’s its USB Type-C
connectivity.This isn’tsimply another input
slot: it’s poweredand can carry data as well as
video.Thismeans as long as you’ve got a
laptop with the appropriateType-C output,
you canchargeyourdevice while it’s
connected, saving theneed to have another
power cabledraggingacross the floor or
taking up room on your desk.
Becausethe 243B9 also has atwo-port
USB3 hub on the left-hand side,you can
use themtoplug in extra peripherals or
removable storageand use themwithyour
laptop.That’s particularly handy if you have
aslimline ultraportable withnofull-size USB
portsofits own, thoughthis extra
connectivity can come in handy even if
you’re hookeduptoadesktop PC.
Next up is the IPS panel.Naturally,it’sless
amazing to get IPSatthispricethan it is at
that of the24B2XH,but all the same benefits
arehere, includingthe wideviewing angles.
It’s also beentreatedwithamatt finishthat
makes short work of theworst glare and
completely nullifies reflections, and while this
is no gaming monitor,the panel is also pretty
quick.At 75 Hz,therefreshratematches
thatofthe24B2XH,andthe4msresponse
time is good foranIPS panel, too.
The last ‘big’ feature is the
PowerSensor,which –when switched on
–shootsout infrared beams to detectif
anyone is sitting in front of themonitor.
If not, thebrightnessisautomatically
dimmed to reducepowerdraw, rising
back up againoncethe sensor detects
theuserreturning to the desk.
This seems like something that would
more benefit businesses trying to keep thei
overheads low than it would the average
home user,but we all have electricity bills
pay, and the system works as advertised,
quickly blinking back up to theusual
brightness levelonce we’d sat back down.
The eco-friendly bentcontinues with th
build, which largely comprisesrecycled pla
If we’re honest, thisisnot agood-looking
PHILIPS 243B9
★★★★★
£192•Fromwww.ebuyer.com
VERDICT
It’ssmallandonlyFullHD,butthe243B9
delivers on both image quality and features
monitor –especiallythe
fatbottom bezel, which
detracts from the slimness
of the other three –butit
ispracticalaswellas
friendlytotheplanet.The
standdoesn’twobbletoo
much and is fully adjustable –heigght, tilt,
pivot, portraitrotation, telot–anndwelike
theindentinthebase.It’susefulfoorbunging
pens,Post-itnotesandotherdeskbric-a-brac
thatwouldotherwisebescatteredabout.
OtherthanthosetwoUSB3 ports on the
side, allother connectionsarehidddenonthe
rear.WiththatType-CinputandsiingleHDMI,
DisplayPortandVGAinputs, theonly thing
missingisDVI, though DsplayPorttorHDMI
are better to use anyway.
IFFYAND SCRATCHY
The 243B9 hastwo speakers on its underside,
thoughwefound these sounded scratchyand
harsh to an offputting degree.
Thereare fivesmall circular buttons on the
front of thebottom bezel: onetoflick through
different image profiles,one forsources, one
to setthe distancefor the PowerSensor,one
to open the OSD andapower button.
Using thefirst threebuttons as navigation
buttons forthe OSD isn’tasslick acontrol
scheme as ajoystick would be,and the OSD
itself is verybasic, but there’s nothing
technically wrong with the latter. Atripto
the SmartImage profile selection screen –
which is distinct from the main OSD,hence
its separate button –also includes niche
nicetiessuchasamonochrome EasyRead
modeandlowblue-lightmode
Asa1,920x1,080monitor,the243B9isn’t
anywherenearassharpastheQHDIiyama
ProLiteXUB2792QSU-W1, even when that
lowerresolution is spread over asmaller 24in
area.That said, it’s finefor most uses, and IPS
technology grants the usual wide viewing
angles.There was no visible backlight bleed
on our review sample,either.
If anything, this is amuchbetter panel than
the dullplasticchassissuggests. Using the
default 6500Kcolourprofile, we recorded
97.2% sRGB gamutcoverage,witha
fantastically low delta-Eof1.33. Peak
brightness and contrast were merely decent,
at 285cd/m^2 and 980:1 respectively,sothe
AOC24B2XH is arguablybetter valuein
straight performance terms, butthese are
still respectable results fordefault settings.
EVERY LAST DROP
SwitchingtothesRGBprofileimprovescolour
performanceveryslightly,pokinggamut
coverage up to 98.7% andbringing
delta-E down to 1.28. Brightness loses a
coupleofnits, peakingat283cd/m^2 ,and
contrastalso seesatiny drop to 978:1,
butthese aren’t serious caveats.
It’s asurprisetosee AMDFreeSync
support on here,and not an unpleasant
one, although theeffectiverange is only
48-75Hz. This might be aniceauxiliary
benefit if youhappen to already have
an AMDRadeon GPU, though it’s not
enough to makethe 243B9 aserious
gaming/office hybrid.
onetheless, an array of fancy features
sthe Philips243B9 justify itsprice.
AOC 24B2XHremains thebetter option if
justwant an IPS panel forpeanuts,but
monitor’s USB Type-C connectivity,
er-saving trickery andfully adjustable
dmake it moreflexible.
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